Egypt President Mohamed Morsi has retracted his Sunday decisions to increase tax burdens on the Egyptian people, and ordered the government to carry out a "social dialogue" on the measures before implementation.

In a statement issued on his official Facebook page at around 2 am on Monday, Morsi said he had put on hold the measures of raising sales taxes on a wide range of consumer goods and services that were made public Sunday afternoon.

“[The President] does not accept that the Egyptian citizen carries any extra burdens without consent. His Excellency has decided to halt the [tax raising] decisions until the degree of public acceptance is made clear,” the statement read.

The measures represent the implementation of an economic programme that Egypt has proposed to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in order to be eligible for a $4.8 billion loan. They are aimed at reducing public deficit through increasing state revenue.

Morsi has already reduced subsidies on butane gas and electricity as part of a government austerity programme.

Among other products, sales taxes were increased on steel, cement, soft drinks, beer and cigarettes as well as a variety of services, including mobile-phone services, air-conditioned transportation, and cleaning and security services.

Egypt has already secured a preliminary (staff-level) approval for the loan and the IMF board of directors is expected to approve the facility on 19 December.

The timing of the measures, less than a week before the 15 December scheduled referendum on the draft constitution, was seen as inappropriate by many observers given that the new taxes were expected to incur public anger.

For its part, the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), from which Morsi hails, issued a statement Sunday evening denouncing the President’s decisions and demanding they be put on hold.

“[The party] calls on the head of the government [Prime Minister Hisham Qandil] to halt these decisions until they are submitted to the People’s Assembly after its formation,” the FJP said in a statement.

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The people representatives are the one who impose taxes; not the President of judges. Brotherhood members are after our money as part of their lust for power and money. Theives!

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TutAnkhAmon

10-12-2012 01:16pm

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Psychopath

I am amazed that this guy has a PhD from the US, a Univ Prof and a former Parliament member and continue to act in such incompetent and irrational manner!

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Democracia

10-12-2012 11:33am

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One step forward, one step back...

Sorry, is this politics or a monopoly game what's going on here in Egypt and with Egyptians? One step forward, the next day one step back, one day I decide so, the next day I take everything back again, and this game goes on now for some time already. What"s this? Egypt really deserve something better than this political amateurism or adventurism! Would it maybe be possible to think about the consequences before I decide something. Every businessman acting like this would be bankrupt in 3 month - and the state of Egypt will be bankrupt too soon! The poor citizens...

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Adam

10-12-2012 04:31pm

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@democracia

Well this is because everytime the president tries to do something there's a stupid knee jerk reaction fro

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Fayyaz Haq

10-12-2012 11:25am

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Can someone explain to Mr. Morsi???

Assalam u Alaikum
Can someone explain to Mr. Morsi???
Nr. Morsi issues decrees and then Annuls them. Mr. Morsi approves new Tax Laws and then backs off. This is totally confused behavior.
When you go to the IMF for a Sinful-Usurious-Loan you loose all the blessings you have from Allah. Al Ahram perhaps the most influential daily of Egypt reports that “Egypt reaches $4.8bn loan agreement with IMF” http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/3/12/58670/Business/Economy/Egypt-reaches-bn-loan-agreement-with-IMF.aspx .
Thus you loose your mental blessings too and mental confusion and chaos takes over. The Quran says “Allah will deprive usury of all blessing….” (Qur’an 2:276) and “The Prophet of Allah (peace be upon him) cursed (Hell Bound) the one who accepted usury, the one who paid it, the witness to it, and the one who recorded it. (Sunan of Abu-Dawood Narrated by Abdullah ibn Mas'ud)
Mental Balance is a blessing from Allah, you loose that blessing too When you go to the IM

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Dr. Malek Towghi (Baluch) --USA

10-12-2012 08:59am

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IDHAA KAAN AL-GHURAAB-u DALEE-a QAWM-in ....

Does this gentleman know what he wants to do and what he is doing other than the obvious determination to impose the Salfai Shari'ah on the 21st century Egypt??

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elisa chiozzi

10-12-2012 06:19am

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individualism....

the so called OPPOSITION, will never rest, they don t care for the Country :everyone of them wants to be PRESIDENT, nothing more nothing less